Politics & Power Quote by Andrew Sullivan

Sullivan’s line lands like a one-sentence history lesson with a knife hidden inside. “The Dixiecrats” isn’t just a period reference; it’s a code word for the pro-segregation splinter of the Democratic Party that bolted in 1948 to defend white supremacy under the banner of “states’ rights.” By saying they “meet again,” he frames modern politics as a reunion, not a transformation: the same impulse, repackaged.

The kicker is geography. New York isn’t incidental; it’s the archetypal liberal metropolis, the place Republicans often caricature as coastal, cosmopolitan, and out of touch. Sullivan’s move is to invert that stereotype: even in New York, he suggests, the party’s gravitational pull has shifted toward the cultural politics once most associated with the Deep South. That’s the subtextual sting: the “South” is no longer a place so much as a portable political identity.

“Now they’re called Republicans” compresses the long, messy realignment of the late 20th century into a blunt punchline. It’s not a neutral claim about voter coalitions; it’s an accusation about inheritance. Sullivan is arguing that certain reactionary energies - resentment politics, racial backlash, the romance of hierarchy - found a more welcoming home in the GOP, especially after civil rights legislation scrambled party loyalties.

The intent is provocation with a paper trail. It dares the reader to dispute the continuity he’s implying, while forcing a conversation about how respectable branding can launder ugly origins.